Magnolia Bakery Posts

11Aug
1

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

…so I lied in my last post. Meant to post these right after Independence Day but summer got in the way. Nevertheless, here they are: my patriotic Magnolia vanilla cupcakes with complementary vanilla buttercream!

Apologies for the distant photograph; was enjoying the Fourth of July party far too much to take pictures. Sparklers are from a local party store, and sugar lime cookies courtesy of my wonderful friend Ashley, who accompanied me on my baking and Fourth of July journeys this year. It was wonderful having her back in town, if only for a few days! No one (other than my mom) appreciates baking in the kitchen watching good movies more than her.

Embarrassingly enough, on my first attempt making these cupcakes that night, I dropped an entire egg into the batter, and my beloved KitchenAid mixer dutifully chopped the eggshell into bits within seconds. I tried picking out the bits of shell, but soon admitted defeat and started over again. Such is life.

I’ve posted the Magnolia vanilla cupcake recipe previously (when I made my Super Bowl cupcakes earlier this year), but I’m posting the recipe after the jump for convenience. Hopefully Ashley will do a guest post and provide the recipe for her awesome sugar lime cookies!

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cupcakes and tagged with , , ,
29Jun
2

Coming Soon…

They’ve been referred to as “crack cupcakes” due to their overwhelming deliciousness. They are perhaps even better than Reese’s cupcakes. They rarely make it to the end of any party, never mind a normal work day at the office. And I will be making the most epic version of this classic cupcake for Independence Day.

Stay tuned!

Posted by Suzy in Cupcakes, News and tagged with
21Mar
2

Magnolia’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

I’ve mentioned these before on the blog, and these are without a doubt the most fabulous, delicious, simple cookies. Ever. They combine the best ingredients (chocolate and peanut butter chips AND toasted pecans), and have a fantastic base that can be used with any number of other ingredients. They’re easy, they’re decadent, and they’re perfect.

When I first bought my Magnolia cookbook, this was the recipe I tried out right away and have been perfecting ever since. While they were always amazing, I recently discovered the key to making this cookie outrageous: heavy cream instead of milk. Never mind that the reason I had to use cream was because I didn’t have any milk in the house; this is the kind of serendipitous feat that doesn’t need an enlightening back story.

While the milk makes these cookies insanely smooth, the heavy cream makes them even more unbelievable.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cookies and tagged with , , , ,
09Feb
1

Superbowl Cupcakes

It’s been a while!  There has been a significant pause in updates for a reason though: a company trip to the Carribbean!  As we all scramble to get swimsuit-ready in just a few weeks, baking for the office has slowed significantly.  However, it’s too hard to stop baking for too long, plus there are plenty of other people in the office to bake for :)

I’m not ashamed to admit that I really don’t give a crap about football.  Never really been my thing.  For me, the best thing about football was having people over so I could cook and bake.  But the Superbowl is a different story.  It’s football, but it’s also commercials AND snacks AND beer all rolled up into one delicious evening.  I didn’t mind the Superbowl this year since I knew I’d be whipping up some kind of baked good.

I am pretty shocked that the original Magnolia cupcake recipe hasn’t turned up on this blog yet.  I beg of you, if you have never had a vanilla Magnolia cupcake, go have one.  Like, now.  No seriously.  A-maz-ing.  The fluffiest, most flavorful cupcake you can make.  Plus they’re the perfect canvas for all kinds of frosting!

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cupcakes and tagged with , , ,
27Dec
3

Magic Cookie Bars

I should not be eating these right now.
I should not be eating these right now.
I should not be eating these right now.

But they’re so good I can’t help myself.

Totally overindulged the past few days. The holidays are the worst for that. And with New Year’s Eve swiftly approaching, there is no end in sight. I’ve found it’s futile to try and resist temptation this time of year. Who wants to be crunching on carrots and cucumbers when there are delicious things abound?

Did get lots of baking gear for Christmas though, including…FROSTING TIPS!!! Be on the lookout for some professionally-piped cupcakes in your future…well, okay, they won’t be professionally piped but they will look more appetizing than the pumpkin cupcakes!

Sidenote: if anyone is looking to purchase me a gift (my birthday is in June!), I just found the most awesome baking-inspired prints at Jenny’s Bake Shop…the store also sells cupcake jewelry but they are currently sold out! ::sad trombone::

At first blush, these didn’t look to appealing to me. I’d never had Magic Cookie Bars as a kid, so I thought the combination of chocolate, coconut, and condensed milk to be pretty weird. Who knew these things were so damn amazing.

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cookies and tagged with , , , ,
22Dec
4

Christmas Cookies Galore!

Finally, the Christmas cookie post! And let me tell you, this literally took me ALL day. Not that I’m complaining, it was well worth it.

I baked cookies with my mom every Christmas when I was younger, and it’s something that I try to continue today. Even though I miss spending afternoons in the kitchen with her, elbow-deep in dough and covered in flour, keeping the tradition alive makes me feel like a kid again. It’s when I really start feeling like it’s Christmas!

While traditionally, my mom and I would make classic cookie press cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies, I decided to venture a little outside of my comfort zone. Having a pretty strong German heritage, I’d always wanted to try making Linzer tarts. I’d never really had them as a kid, but they are a quintessential Christmas cookie. Since they are pretty Old World-y, I didn’t think I’d get too many takers, but they actually turned out to be the most popular cookie!

Along with the Linzers, I’d decided pretty early on that I wanted to make peanut blossoms (from a recipe I’ve been using for years), sugar cookies, and gingerbread people (they’re not gingerbread MEN, for god’s sake).

Christmas Cookies

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cookies and tagged with , , , , , ,
13Dec
3

Snickerdoodles

Ok, I know I usually only bake on Fridays, but today is snowy, I’m wrapping Christmas presents, and the mood just struck. Since it’s so close to the holidays, I decided on Snickerdoodles, a perennial Christmas favorite.

No, they have nothing to do with Snickers or doodles or even Snick for that matter. Though I’m sure you could watch Snick while eating them. Snickerdoodles remind me of Old World German women baking in the dead of winter (you can read alllllll about the history of Snickerdoodles here).

This is another Magnolia recipe…surprise! No but really, while Snickerdoodles are hard to mess up, anything from Magnolia is guaranteed to be perfect. This is my second favorite cookie recipe from Magnolia (I will post my very favorite at some point…they are OMGZ so good).

Snickerdoodles

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cookies and tagged with , , ,
14Nov
15

Magnolia’s Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Yes, I know, another cupcake post. But these are so damn good I couldn’t resist. Plus, the recipe comes from my muse and baking inspiration Allysa Torey, owner of Magnolia Bakery in NYC. I bought Allysa’s cookbook a few years back, and her recipes are truly the only ones I’ve found to be infallible. Her cupcakes…wow. If you’ve been to Magnolia you know her cupcake and buttercream frosting combo are pretty killer, and they are super easy to make.

So many of the baking tips and tricks I’ve picked up have come from her (second only to my mom). A couple of my favorites:

  • Make sure all cold ingredients (butter, milk, eggs) are at room temperature before you start mixing. This has been possibly the best tip I’ve ever received; it really makes a difference!
  • You simply cannot overbeat sugar and butter, so feel free to whip away until they are super fluffy. Once you add any other ingredients in, though, be careful. Always cream the butter and sugar before you mix in anything else.

These are pretty simple, just chocolate cupcakes with the famous Magnolia chocolate “buttercream” (I put buttercream in quotes because even Allysa notes that it’s not made like a traditional buttercream). Since my last attempt at piping icing was a disaster, I think I’m getting a little better, no?

Magnolia Chocolate Cupcakes

Note to self: ask for lots of frosting tips for Christmas.

Keep reading and get the recipe…

Posted by Suzy in Cupcakes and tagged with , ,